Cambridge Buddhist Association
Founded to provide instruction in Buddhist meditation in
the United States and to make available study materials. The
association is nonsectarian and meetings are conducted by
priests of different Buddhist sects, in accordance with the wishes
of the founder, Shinichi Hisamatsu.
The association has been served by a series of outstanding
Buddhist teachers. The first president was Shunryu Suzuki
(also of the San Francisco Zen Center). He was succeeded by
Rev. Chimyo Horioka of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, who
graduated from Koyasan University, Japan, then studied philosophy
at the University of Berlin, and science and the history
of religion at Hamburg University, becoming instructor of Oriental
studies. He immigrated to the United States in 1953 and
in 1956 was appointed assistant to the curator of the Asiatic department
at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Horioka was succeeded by Maurine Stuart, a student of the
late Soen Naakgawa. Stuart, also a musician, teaches Buddhism
at the Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire as well. The
association provides facilities for Zen meditation but is also
open to a variety of Buddhist perspectives, and members are
active in area interfaith activities. The association is housed in
a residential neighborhood at 75 Sparks St., Cambridge, MA
02138.
Sources
Cambridge Buddhist Association. Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge
Buddhist Association, 1960.
Fujimoto, Rindo. The Way of Zazen. Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge
Buddhist Association, 1969.
Renfrew, Sita Paulickpulle. A Buddhist Guide for Laymen.
Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge Buddhist Association, 1963
